This invention relates generally to bale wagons for retrieving bales from a field, and more specifically to wagons in which a cross-conveyor moves the picked up bales across the width of the wagon to form a row of bales as wide as the wagon. The cross-conveyor, receiving bed and specific other certain features are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,848,127 and 3,330,424.
The bale wagons to which the previously noted patents apply, function to automatically pick up and stack bales, such as hay bales, from the positions in which they are dropped by hay cutting and baling machines which precede the bale wagons in fields.
The bale wagons operate by moving along a line of bales lying in a field, and aligning the chute-like front of the machine, the bale loader, with each bale. A vertical chain conveyor with protruding cleats lifts the bale upward and a deflector then tips the bale sideways, onto the receiving bed of the wagon at a point which is essentially the foremost portion of one of the side edges of the wagon.
At this point the cross-conveyor moves the bale across the width of the wagon, forming a one bale wide row at the leading edge of the wagon. The receiving bed, when filled with its full compliment of bales is tipped rearward placing the bales onto a larger bed, called the transfer bed, where several rows of bales are then accumulated. When a predetermined number of rows have been accumulated to fill the transfer bed, this bed, in turn, is tipped rearward to begin the formation of a multilayer stack of bales with a first full height vertical tier. Typical bale wagons are also capable of automatically unloading an entire stack, for some bale wagons as many as 160 bales.
Despite all their impressive versatility, prior art bale wagons do, however, have faults. The cross-conveyors on the receiving bed, designed to move the bales across the width of the wagon, contain cleats to engage the hay bales, but the location of the cleats in the prior art has not been entirely satisfactory. The variation in density of bales, caused by changing conditions of moisture content and other field conditions, causes unsatisfactory results with either extremely dense bales or very light ones. Since the position of the cleats, the cleat elevation, has generally been selected as a compromise between the lower, less aggressive, cleats required for dense bales and the higher, more aggressive cleats needed for loose fluffly bales, the resulting compromise has not been able to satisfactorily span the entire range of bale density found in normal use.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a cross-conveyor for a bale wagon which will satisfactorily operate with all types of bales.
It is another object of this invention to furnish a cross-conveyor which can be adjusted for height of cleats in the field.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a cross-conveyor with sufficient field adjustment capability to compensate for minor distortion of the conveyor parts in either manufacture or use.